Mexico City Council members commended city road crews for their performance during last week's wintry weather. As crews waited for the ice and snow predicted Monday night, residents were advised to stay inside if possible, and have patience as crews do their best to clear the roadways.

City road crews were out all weekend and Monday, clearing and moving the 10 inches of snow that fell last Thursday in Mexico. Audrain County road crews assisted in the clean-up.

"We got a lot of calls today (Monday) about the streets," City Engineer Kensey Russell told the council, as he continued to describe some of the obstacles the crews faced last week, including traffic hindrances, limited manpower and equipment breakdowns.

"Considering the unusual combination of issues we had with this storm, we hope to take advantage of the experience and to do better."

According to Russell, the City of Mexico road crew worked 12-hour shifts during the weekend, with a seven-man team (three of whom are new hirees with no experience) working with equipment that is "good, but not large or heavy enough" to clean snow from the city streets properly. Some of the calls city staff received questioned what streets are cleaned first and complained about how long it was taking road crews to clear the streets.

"That (last week's storm) was a difficult storm to manage. In storms like that, we concentrate on the emergency routes and major streets first, and then the side streets," Russell explained. "We tried to make at least a path on the streets, but the snow was coming down quickly."

Russell said the road crews maintain 80 miles of roadway and moved 120 loads of snow over the weekend, following Thursday's storm. He said the crews also tried to avoid piling snow in driveway entrances during the plows' second and third runs on a street.

"All we ask is that residents be patient," Russell said. "We had good help from the county, and we appreciate their help. Our crews are doing their best to get the roads cleaned as quickly as possible."